Kolob-Cougars and Spiders and Stairs-oh my!

We said: Flew into Salt Lake City Monday night and were off to Zion National Park this morning. It was a 4+ hour drive down I-15 on a very windy day. While we were driving you could see the dust blowing-it looked like smoke rising and there were a few times when you could see it across the road up ahead. We both thought it was a good thing Paul wasn't riding his bike in that wind. Got to the Kolob Canyon (which is the North end of Zion) about 4:30 and took the 5 mile drive up the canyon road. It was a beautiful drive-the red rocks and canyons were gorgeous-took some pictures and drove down to the Taylor Creek trail. The trailhead information said it was a 5 mile trip (back and forth) which should take 4 hours. It was 5:30 and we knew it would be getting dark by around 7:30 so we decided to hike in an hour and then head back. The trail followed the Taylor Creek, crossing back and forth across it (there wasn't much water flowing in it) and for the most part the path was like red beach sand. We will head to the main entrance of the park tomorrow for some more beautiful sites and hikes.

That's sand blowing in the field.

At the top of the Kolob Canyon road.

From the Canyon road.

One of the views from our hike.

Pretty isn't it?

On the trail.

The rock formations and patterns were beautiful.

More scenes from the trail.

Yes, they said there were tarantulas in the park-we saw one!

We cut it a little close-the sun was setting and it was getting dark as we were finishing the last of the hike-up 90 some steps-thank goodness it wasn't too dark.....they said there were cougars to watch out for too (and gave instructions on how to scare them off)!

Salt Lake City and the trip home

Wednesday-We had a great day. Checked into the hotel near the airport where we will be leaving our car (and possessions) for the weekend. We saw they had some bike paths so we decided to venture out. Took a ride on the bike paths through gates onto the airport property. At one point it looked like the path went straight or left through some tunnels. We decided to stay straight, oh did we mention there was also a golf course there?, anyway it seems we were on the cart path. Rode around the golf course dodging golf balls, good thing we had helmets on, and came back to the fork in the road (path). The ariport security officer (a bike patrolman who was watching the golfers from a bench) informed us it might be safer to take the bike path-which went through the tunnel-oops, wrong turn. We did, and were treated at one point to the sight of a huge jetliner going right overhead, the closest we've ever been to a jet without being on it. WOW! Got back to the hotel and put our bikes in a storage room where they graciously will keep them while we are in CT for the weekend. Took a ride into downtown Salt Lake City where we walked around and ended up at the Family History Library run and owned by the Mormon Church. Since our conversion to Latter Day Agnosticism we felt an affinity with their catchy name. The volunteers (on their missions) at the library were so friendly and helpful. We spent 3 hours there (and could have spent alot longer) looking up information on our family history. Did you know we are both related to Baruch O'Bama? WOW! LOL! Not only that-both our families lived in King's Ward (a section of Brooklyn, NY)....it is a small country-although you wouldn't think so riding it on a bike. Headed back to our home for the night to get repacked for the early flight to CT.
Thursday-Flew all day. Sam picked us up at the airport in Providence-it was great to see her. Stopped at Ma & Dad Wakely's on the way home-it was great to see them too!
Friday-Mail and paperwork till supper time. Went to a real pizza place with friends and family. Boy, did we miss everyone. It was great to talk and laugh with the people you love.
Saturday-More of the same Saturday as we attended the nuptials of Liz and Carl (Mr and Mrs Bennett). We had a great time-everyone looked terrific and it was nice to catch up and see people in person. John had told us the night before how it was different for them, because they saw us everyday when they read the blog...they knew what we were doing and could see pictures of us. We didn't have that, so it was nice to hear what everyone had been up to while we were away. Uncle Leonard and Aunt Lois spent the night RVing in the driveway. Fitting that they sort of ended our trip with us as they saw us on our first night.
Sunday-Spent the morning with the family around the breakfast table. I mean that literally, as we sat at the table until noon when everyone departed. Ben, Meaghan and Jake back to NH, Uncle Leonard and Aunt Lois to visit Patrick and his crew, and Sam off to Nick's to get the oil changed in her car. Sharon is going to meet Sam in Woodstock for an art show and Paul will relax and watch the Giants. Life is good.

Day 61-Ever heard of an Ore-Ida Onion?

We said: Sharon had work to do in the morning, so Paul took a ride (it had been 3 days since he rode-so the bicycle beckoned). Had an interesting ride around the outskirts of the city of Ontario and managed to find an Ore-Ida tack (see picture). Got the tire changed and back to the room in time to check out. So off we went off to Salt Lake City. It was a nice ride through a valleywith farms and ranches. We had been in 2 different areas of Idaho and never saw a potato. (Some of the crops we saw growing may have been potatoes, but we don't think so) We did see onions though-and lots of them-growing, on trucks, and Paul said he saw them on the side of the road while he was riding-enough to last someone a lifetime if they picked them up. We got off the highway when we got about 50 miles from the Utah border to make sure we could get the Welcome to Utah photo-can't get those on the highway (we learned that going into Washington). So, after we entered Utah, we got back on the Interstate-when we got close to Salt Lake City we spotted the Great Salt Lake. Got some dinner and walked around the local mall-decided we could have been in Anywhere USA. Will tour Salt Lake City tomorrow, and then will be in the air most of the day Thursday as we head home for the weekend.





This is what others refer to as a Texas Tack-Paul calls them Ore-Ida tacks. It is amazing how they can position themselves to wreak havoc on bike tires.

This stand of trees (with a For Sale sign on them) stood in the middle of miles and miles of ranch land with barely a tree to be seen. We couldn't figure out how they could possibly be for sale-how do you dig up a 75' tree?

Welcome to Utah!

Days 59 & 60-We're posting again by "popular demand"

We said: First thing...want to thank everyone for their congratulation emails and comments-it was great to hear from all of you.
We spent a wonderful Sunday visiting with Janet and got back on the road in the afternoon for the drive to Portland. The ride was nice-couldn't wait to see Mt. Rainier-we weren't disappointed as we rode down I-5 and caught site of it several times. It truly is a beautiful mountain-just as we both remembered it. Paul said he remembers seeing it everyday when he was stationed at Ft. Lewis-it always made you stop and look-not something you would get used to or take for granted seeing. As we drove-Mount St. Helens came into view. Also pretty amazing to see. Sorry we don't have any pictures-the traffic on I-5 is "nuts" and there is no place to pull over for photo ops. Got to Portland fairly late-had dinner-and hit the hay.
Got up early to get the spare tire mounted under the Mini. The guys at Rasmussen BMW/Mini were great and got us on the road by 10 and off to Salt Lake City. The first 175 miles or so of the ride were along the Columbia River Gorge and just a great drive...the weather and scenery couldn't have been better. We spotted Mount Hood quite a few times, once in the rearview where it appeared to be practically sitting in the river...very cool. Made a stop in Pendleton, OR and went to the Pendleton Wool factory. From there I-84 heads south and into the Blue Mountains. Back up into the higher elevations-beautiful views of the open ranchlands and farms. We are staying in Ontario, OR tonite, right on the border of Idaho with about 400 miles to Salt Lake City tomorrow.

Along the Columbia River Gorge

These are enormous-they went on forever-it was great to see them spinning along the way.

There they are.

One of the views from up high.

Day 58-On the road again Willie

We said: Went out for a nice breakfast (we both got pancakes and used some of the maple syrup we brought from home to give to people we met along the way). Reloaded the car and were off to Mill Creek, WA to visit our friend Janet. Took the Pacific Coast Highway from Florence to Astoria-beautiful ride along the coast-then inland along the Columbia River and up I-5 north of Seattle. The ride was great-except for the I-5 part. It was great to see Janet and her new home. We had a wonderful home cooked meal with Janet and a friend of hers-Pete. We are spending the night at Janet's daughter and son-in-law's house (Rachel and Nick). Sorry we won't get to spend any time with them as they are in Chicago with their son Sam, bringing their eldest son Max to school at the University of Chicago. Thanks for the hospitality Rachel and Nick-the house is great. Looking forward to spending the day with Janet before we head to Portland, OR and the start of our trip back home. We have to pick up the spare tire and rim we ordered for the car-haven't had one the whole trip. Figured we were pushing our luck-so starting Monday we will have the tire installed safely under the car and should be good to go for the ride home.

Packed pretty tight-don't think there was anything we brought along that didn't get used.

Along the Pacific Coast Highway.

The 3 musketeers in Mill Creek.

Day 57-Yorktown to Florence-4133 terrific miles

She said: It was hard to believe it was going to be our last day planning on where to meet, when to meet, where we would stay, and making sure Paul was supplied with water, Gatorade, granola bars, and spare tire tubes....but the day started the same as it has for the past 56, discussing all of that. So, we were to meet in Deadwood-about 51 miles from Eugene. I left Eugene and expected to pass Paul about the 45 mile mark or so. Well, just to keep the day interesting-got to Deadwood and no Paul. Of course there was no cell phone service through that area so there was no way to see if I had missed him, or he went on up ahead. After driving another 10 miles, I knew Paul's speed had improved over the course of the trip, but I also knew there was no way he had gotten that far. Turned around and headed back to Deadwood-still no Paul...drove back another 8 miles and there he was-pedaling toward me with a big smile on his face and a big wave. Seems he stopped to get a bite to eat-which took alot longer than planned-like 1 1/2 hours-seems he met some nice people-and they got to talking.....I thought I had lost him on the last day! Well, after a rest stop in Deadwood we were off to Florence. I went ahead to the "dipping" site, parked the car and took off on the bike to meet up with Paul...he decided he wanted company pedaling to the end. We met up about 6 miles from the end and pedaled back together. After a long search for an easy spot to get to the water, and a long walk, Paul dipped his tire in the Pacific. Thus ends this part of our amazing adventure. I can't put into words how proud I am of him. I saw first hand the mountains, passes, stretches of never ending road, bad road conditions, and bad weather he suffered through...he did a fantastic job! He said: maneuvered thru the streets of Eugene to a 6 mile bike path to the outside of the city.those bike paths are great. once outside the city i had one hill to climb about 24 miles away. there was a small cafe before the hill so i stopped for breakfast number 2. alot of friendly people , with no one in a hurry. it was real nice, felt like i lived there. i had 2 eggs, bacon, homemade wheat toast and a large oj for $4.75 with friendly conversation, tips for the road ahead and wellwishing. i was there for about an hour and a half and i guess that is where Sharon lost track of me, oh well. climbed the hill and the elevation topped out at 1000', not 1004 or 1012, but according to the sign exactly 1000. from there it was 50 miles to Florence, theoretically all downhill (so i wouldn't even have to pedal) and i figured i was behind schedule so i booked to our meeting spot, Deadwood, and got to see Sharon coming the other way. gave her a big wave as she passed and after she turned around and passed me again i could have sworn she yelled "idiot" out the window. well you all know how the wind plays tricks with your hearing when you are flying down the road so what she told me later was that she had said "see you in Deadwood honey." nice pb&j lunch in D, and then the final 27 miles to the finish. pretty uneventful ride , Sharon had ridden 5 miles out to meet me which was nice, and we rode the last 5 miles to the beach together. so much for easy access, i had to carry my bike a quarter mile thru the dunes to dip the tire, complaining the whole time, but it was worth it as we finished like we started, together and in relatively good spirits (AS usual Sharon more so than me) got a nice room for the night, emptied the car, cleaned and reorganized, took showers and went out for pizza (it is after all friday night) i wish someone could make good pizza west of the mississippi but you can't have everything (where would you put it) second leg of the journey starts tomorrow. 83 miles

now that is what a Christmas tree farm should look like. all the treesare shaped, full , and the old has all been pulled out and the earth retilled or whatever they do to get ready for new plantings.this wasn't unusual in this area, more par for the course . maybe they aren't subsidized by the towns.

Ditto. Don't they look nice enough to decorate?

All done and off to do the dipping.

Thumbs up Wakelys!

"Do you have that camera figured out yet?"

At the Pacific. Finally got the camera figured out.

Day 56-And then there was One

He said: did i say i found one texas tack? i guess i found 2 , the second one about a mile into my ride. i stopped to take a picture of the cascades, towards which i was riding, got back on the bike and my rear tire was flat. changed it and was off . nice ride up through the Mckenzie and Willamette national forests to Mckenzie peak. a little short of the peak there was a pulloff where you could see a lava flow from about 1500 years ago. pretty neat. up to the pass (the last one) and more interesting stuff.( see pictures) then a 16 mile mostly downhill ride interrupted by yes another flat. Sharon says the bike doesn't want the ride to end so it is prolonging it. the ride was very "scenic" (read curvy, windy, no shoulder etc.) and i had no problem keeping up with the speed limit for one of the few times on the trip. with all the tire changes, when we stopped for lunch at 12:30 i still had over 50 miles to go. the afternoon roughly followed the Mckenzie river , but for the most part there were trees or vegetation between it and i, so i really couldn't enjoy it. after lunch Sharon went ahead to Eugene and i plugged along. about 28 miles from Eugene i got flat numero tres for the day, more in one day than i had for the whole trip. guess i should feel lucky. Sharon stayed on rt 126 all the way into Eugene and she said it became a very fast and busy interstate. my route, while adding probably 4 or 5 miles detoured me through a nice area on back roads to the northeast edge of Eugene. we met up, ate, planned tomorrow and are now relaxing at 9 to get ready for the last day of the ride. it went fast in retrospect, kinda like life. looking forward to the next part of the trip, and especially seeing family and friends at a wonderful occasion, Liz and Carl's wedding. Here's to a good finish tomorrow. 100 miles
She said: Met up with Paul just a mile or so out of Sisters to give him a spare tube to put in his pack as he had to use the last one he had. Went to the bike shop to get another tire and a few tubes to ensure tires wouldn't be a problem for the last two days. Good thing, as it turns out Paul not only needed the tubes, but the tire as well. Stopped at a pull off about 5 miles from the summit of McKenzie Pass....what an interesting spot....had no idea about this lava flow from 1500 years ago. The lava continued along the side of the road from there to the pass and well beyond. It was just amazing. Met Paul for lunch about 25 miles from the pass and then went on to Eugene. I thought we had been to Eugene before, but I was mistaken-it was Corvallis (home of Oregon State University), Eugene is the home of University of Oregon and a lot larger than Corvallis. Can't believe we will be at the Pacific Ocean tomorrow---still more adventures to come on the ride home. Looking forward to our trip up to Washington...will see you soon Janet, and seeing the family next week.

The view of the mountains in the morning...scene of flat tire #1.


We have been seeing these gates as long as we have been out west and in the mountains..they actually close the main roads when the weather is inappropriate..I guess they try to keep people away from their worst instincts..."I can make it over that pass!"
It is ironic that I came upon this sign at probably the first time I haven't had wind the whole trip.

Mount Washington-this Mount Washington is about twice the height of the Mount Washington we know-the foreground of the picture is all rock from the lava flow.

More lava flow

The explanation of the lava flow.

The last pass! See the trailer on the left? The road is really narrow and somebody in an SUV wasn't sharin the road. As a result some lava hit the tire on the trailer just as we were taking this picture. Kapow-went over to see if he needed help (I saw he was packing, and figured he was already pissed off and if I headed down the hill before him-I wanted to maked sure I was on his good side). They have limits for total length of vehicle and what they are towing on this road. Going around some of the hairpin curves with 15 mph speed limits you can understand why. He's about maxed out.

At the top of the observation tower-the Three Sisters in the background. Picture taken by a former CT resident now living in Santa Rosa, CA

Looking out from the observation tower, zoomed in from the road below. See next picture for Rapunzel.

Pretty cool. The tower is made from rock from the lava flow, steps and all. In the bottom section there are lookouts placed to view the different mountains in the distance.

Day 55-Cascades Come Into View

He said:another beautiful day. had about a 16 mile ride to ochoco pass with the last 7 miles a pretty good climb. met Sharon at the top where she made me a pb&j,and it was down to Prineville, the county seat, about 32 miles away. the area had seemed pretty dry and as i approached Prineville i passed Ochoco lake. the waterfront properties , including docks and catwalks out to them were high and dry and about 50 yards from the water. maybe it was low tide.once again we were in a wide fertile valley,big farms, and increasing populations. where we had been going through towns with populations in the hundreds, we were now in prineville,pop. 10,000 or so. we had stayed in Mitchell the night before and the population was 108. they had a k-12 school system with a total of 68 students. we had lunch, Sharon stayed working at the county library and i took off for Redmond and our final destination of the day, Sisters. from as far back as Kansas we had been warned about Texas tacks, a type of thorn on the side of the road that are not very good for tires. i found one leaving Prineville. pulled it out and was able to make it to Sisters with a little air added about 5 miles from Sisters. Approaching Redmond, a metropolis of 25,000, i got my first glimpse of the Cascades( at least on this trip) some big peaks heading north and south,which split the states of oregon and washington into eastern and western parts of the state with very different climates etc. we will be riding over McKenzie pass tomorrow through the Cascades. Fixed the tire tonight and should be ready to go. 88 miles
She said: Another nice day on the road. Met Paul at the Ochoco Pass for the photo op, and to give him some food and Gatorade. We rode through one of the National Forests and then into more farmland. Leaving Redmond I got my first glimpse of the Cascades and Paul's last hurdle to the west coast. It's hard to believe he went over so many mountain passes and through so many mountain ranges and we are looking at the last one. WOW! We are in Sisters tonite-the population here is just over 1000 (big by some of our standards). It is very much a "tourist destination" as the eastern gateway to the Cascades. Lots of gift shops, small art galleries, etc all along the main street. Big day tomorrow over McKenzie Pass and into Eugene. Besides Williamsburg VA, Eugene is the only place on this trip that Paul and I have been to before. It has been one new experience after another...all fun and interesting.

Just outside the Business Loop of Mitchell.

At the summit of O-choke-O pass.

What a butte!

The cloud covered Cascades.

Beautiful evening sky in downtown Sisters

Day 54-Late again-no phone, no internet

I had to wait until I got to a library to put up the pictures and dialog from yesterday.
She said: It is weird to think that a 62 mile day would be considered a “short” day, but it has come to that. Paul was finished riding about noon and we met in Mitchell. After lunch we rode back to the John Day Fossil Bed area. The National Park area is a paleontologists dream. The Visitors Center had examples of fossils that have been found here. After our tour at the center we decided to go to the Blue Basin hiking trail. It was a nice 3 mile hike around, up and over a pretty big hill. Anyone who knows me knows that heights are not my thing, but Paul helped me traverse the paths that went along the edge of the mountainside. It was a nice hike-beautiful scenery-colorful rock cliffs of green and red. Oh yeah-funny story about John Day. He had nothing to do with the exploration of the area, but it seems there are a lot of things named after him. He was on an exploration to the Columbia River in the mid 1800’s-separated from his group with another gentleman. They were captured by Indians, robbed of everything (including their clothes) and left by the mouth of the river where they were rescued. The river previously had an Indian name, but after the incident it was referred to as the John Day. When you name a river it is at the mouth of the river and usually anything within that river area gets the name too. There is a town, river, roads, and the fossil bed area named after him, even though as far as they can tell, he was never within 100 miles of this area. Pretty funny, huh? Off to Sisters tomorrow.
He said: 2 down, 3 to go. Short, strategic day today. Done by lunchtime, and since we hadn’t had any exercise we took a pretty strenuous 3 mile hike. Two 90+ days coming up with a good peak on each one….and then the finale. We are staying in Mitchell, OR-population 108. We are on the Business Loop, and we are regulars at the restaurant…we had lunch and dinner there. The food was good, we had to compete with the flies to eat. It seems the more isolated you are around here, the more everything costs. Competition can be a good thing. Early night and will hit the road again in the morning. 62 miles.



Another beautiful National Park site.

What's up with this? Saw this tree with shoes, boots, sneakers hanging from it-in the midle of nowhere!

From the John Day Fossil Bed Visitors Center-The cathedral

On the Blue Basin trail-the color was more like a minty green.

Heading up.

Taking a break. 1.3 miles done, 1.95 to go.

Still on the way up-yikes!

We were on the edge of the hillside across from where we had been-Paul took this one-I couldn't turn to the side to look without holding on to him. It was beautiful though. Now we just had to get down.

Day 53-...and he's bad,bad Leroy Brown

Forgot to put in Saturdays mileage: 88.
He said: todays title isn't referring to me, it's the tune that was stuck in my head all day. started out with rain, a headwind , three peaks to climb,and a song going through my head over and over. after the first pass the rain stopped and the weather continued to get better until by the end of the day it was sunny, 80 and beautiful,and Sharon and i had figured out the majority of the words so i only had to whistle part of the time.. the scenery was kind of indescript most of the day as we were riding through several national forests and for the most part were surrounded by pine trees. there are just so many federal recreation areas here. in this area alone there are 860 miles of groomed snowmobile trails. it seems hard to believe we are almost done. relatively speaking the rides this week will be shorter than what i have been doing to get to the schedule we want to hit now. as i ride i try to compile lists of favorite sights, best place we stayed, best pm,am etc, but for the life of me i can't get everything in order. reminds me of a joke we were reading at supper tonight. 90 miles
She said: Ww agreed I would meet Paul this am along the route as there were no stops along the way for him to pick up any water, etc for 30 miles. I got to the 30 mile mark and no Paul -I knew he didn't average over 20 mph, not up 2 big passes. How did I miss him? I turned around and found him after going back about 7 miles-what are the odds of a pit stop just as I was going by? Gave him some water, met back at the 30 mile mark and had a bite to eat, and figured out as many words to Leroy Brown as we could. On my way to John Day, where Paul was going to meet me at the library, I saw this giant Conestoga Wagon at a view point/Historical Marker. Well, I had to stop. I sat in the drivers seat with a perfect view of the road, waited for Paul, and got some work done. It was a riot. The view from there was beautiful too, a wide open valley with the Strawberry Mountains in the background. We are staying in Mount Vernon, OR tonite-still in hunting territory. The next 25 miles or so have warnings on the road "Wildlife migration area". It means watch out for big animals crossing the road-I will be staying alert-I almost hit an enormous elk this morning!

The Strawberry Mountains coming into view after riding through National Forests most of the morning.

The valley with the mountains in the background.

Maybe we'll ride this home.